Way Out There Ch. 06

I hope that everyone enjoys this as much as i did writing it. comments welcomed.

As Akira was wiping her tears out of her eyes, the other women gathered around her. They held her as she composed herself. "I could feel the love that each of you was sending me. That was intense and awesome. I will never be alone again. Now I have Russ and sisters, I am the luckiest woman in the universe." She expressed with an exuberant smile.

"Akira, we are all lucky to have both found Russ and you. It has made our lives much better. The future looks very promising. Are you ready for some more training?" Laura asked, brushing off any embarrassment.

"Yes, but don't you think we need to get some kind of clothes on first?"

"All you need to wear is your body suit. Anything else and the battle gear would not fit right." Laura explained.

"Okay well let's get going. I want to learn how to protect myself and be able to wear all that gear properly. Then there is getting down to the site and seeing what is there, if anything." Akira was excited by the thought of getting to explore.

Laughing Laura stated. "One thing at a time Akira small steps before leaps, I agree with you on everything. Yet I have to keep you safe also. That is my primary responsibility, and I take that very serious."

"Yes mother. I will be a good girl." That had both women giggling and laughing at the antics.

Arriving at the armory, the first thing Akira noticed was the grizzled bear of an older man. Laura marched up to the man. "Hey Gus, how ya doing? You're still looking like some kind of ancient fossil that should have been left buried." She blurted out in a rough manner.

"Why you young pup, you would not know a real man if he fell on you. If one did, you're still too uppity to know what to do with one. I would feel sorry for the poor sucker."

Akira was in shock hearing them. It appeared that they didn't like each other. She was starting to have doubts about this plan. She was surprised when they both burst into raucous laughter. Laura gave the man a big bear hug, as he gently hugged her back. "Akira this old coot is Gus, he is in charge of the armory. I think he knows about every weapon, blade or piece of armor that has ever been made. He was probably around when it first started he is so ancient. You will never find anyone that knows more though."

"Laura, who is this wisp of a girl? She looks like she needs to eat more and grow some also. You sure you want to try on a piece of battle armor, it probably weighs more than you do young lady."

"Gus, you might want to refrain from teasing her. This is Lady Akira, our future Queen." Laura stated hastily, not sure how Akira would take the teasing.

"Gus, it is good to meet you. If you can get those old bones going enough and gather your strength to drag it to me, then I will wear one of the battle suits. I do not want to wait all day for you to get it." Akira gave it back as good as she got it.

Bent over laughing. "Girl you got spirit. I am glad to meet you your majesty. Please don't pay any attention to Laura and I. We have been good friends for many years. You will be hard pressed to find her equal. Captain Marnia and Captain Hart are two of them, but there are not many. What can I do for you Miss Akira?"

Stunned by the change of attitude Akira blinked several times before answering. "Gus I was told that I had to have a battle suit and gear, also something about a new weapon along with a blade."

As Gus was about to turn away, another man walked into the armory. Akira didn't care for the way he looked at her, she felt dirty just from his glance. He turned to Laura, "Captain, aren't you supposed to come to attention when a superior officer comes into the room? Maybe you need some tutelage to get it through that pretty head of yours." He spoke in a condescending way.

"Steven, you have no authority in my armory. You need to leave now before there is trouble." The fun side of Gus was gone and in its place was a warrior ready for battle.

"Steven, this is Lady Akira our future Queen. I am her body guard and do not answer to you." Laura stated in a cold voice, her hand on her weapon.

Steven turned away ignoring her. "Gus, I can have you removed from here anytime I please and do what I want. That fool of a boy that wants to play king is nothing and will cause us no end of trouble."

Steven found himself up against a wall with a glowing plasma blade at his throat. "Young lady you had better put that down before you get hurt."

"Lady Akira step away from him and I will end him now." Laura said menacingly. "Steven your life is forfeit since you threatened the Queen." Her weapon was drawn waiting for Akira to step away.

Russ charged into the room as she said that. "Did you not get the message a little while ago? I will not tolerate that kind of behavior. So I am just a young fool and you think you know better? Let me educate you." Russ threw him 60 foot through the air against a bulkhead. Before he could hit the floor Russ had him in the air against the wall by the throat. That young girl is my future wife and your future Queen. Laura is her personal guard both Akira and Laura are joined and linked to me. I heard every despicable word that came out of that worthless mouth of yours. If you so much as utter a single sound, I will take your head off your shoulders. Nod if you understand me." The Commander and Admiral were standing in shock in the door way. They had not seen Russ move after throwing Steven.

"Sire, will you let him down please. We need to have him stand trial so that our entire empire will understand your orders." The Commander spoke in a quiet voice. He had not seen Russ this angry before.

"Admiral is there a brig aboard the ship?" He asked without turning his head.

"Yes Sire there is. There is even a solitaire cell. If you will allow it that is where he will be going until the trial." Katy spoke evenly, hoping not to upset Russ any further.

Tossing Steven to the floor Russ said in a soft voice. "Get this piece of trash out of my sight." That scared everyone in the room more than anything else that had happened.

"My Lord, I was going to put a stop to that arrogant piece of filth. I do not like him and do not tolerate that kind of behavior, your ladies and I were teasing and having a good time. Until he came in, he has always wanted Laura for himself. There are multiple women that he has harassed and tormented."

"Gus, I take it. Do you know whether he has ever forced or used his station to take advantage of any woman?"

"No Sire I do not know if he did or not, I wouldn't put it past him though. Yes Sire my name is Gus it is an honor to meet you. I just wish it had been under better circumstances." He replied with a bow.

"Gus the honor is mine to meet a man of your character, let everyone know. Anyone that has any information as to what he has done to please come forward. They will have justice."

"Yes Sire, I will make sure that the women know they are safer now. Thank you."

"Akira, Laura, are you two alright?"

"Russ I was so angry at that asshole. If you had not come in, I probably would have killed him. No one talks about you or one of my sisters like that. Yes we are both fine thank you for asking and being there for us."

"I will always try to be there for any of my women. No one will live if they harm any of you."

"Sire, are you ready to go back to the bridge?" Katy asked. "I am sure that Akira and Laura are in good hands with Gus. He might be old along with creaking when he moves, but I would not want to tangle with him."

"Russ, go take care of what you need to. We are fine now thanks."

"My Lord, they will have the best and toughest armor that is available. The best weapons that I can make will just be for your ladies and yourself my Lord. This I promise. If you and your ladies will return here in 2 days from now, I will have your equipment finished except for sizing it to each of you. Nothing in the known universe can hurt them or you while you are wearing it."

Everyone gaped at Gus as he finished saying that. They knew the old man had some knowledge he had kept hidden away. Grady had always thought he somehow had gotten a hold of some of the ancient tech.

"Thank you Gus, I will be back in 2 days, if you can continue outfitting Akira it would be greatly appreciated." Russ said shaking the man's hand.

"Laura Akira please be careful out there, don't take any chances. Please."

"We won't Russ."

"Gus, I do not doubt you. That kind of armor has not been seen in over 30,000 years though. How did you get it? How do you know about it or even make it?" Laura asked stunned by what he had claimed.

"Laura, Miss Akira may I ask a promise of yall?"

"Gus, as your future Queen I promise not to tell anyone. You have to know though that Russ will hear everything that you say."

His secret is safe with me also. He has my promise. Akira heard Russ say.

"Russ has agreed also and will promise to keep your secret."

"Take a seat please this will take a little to tell."

While they were getting comfortable Gus was going through his thoughts. Remembering back to the ancient days when he was young. "Even though I use the name Gus now, that was not the name given to me as a babe. I am older than any can imagine. Our empire extends back far longer than can be remembered. I was a young man in the Kings armory during the height of our technology era. When I quit ageing for whatever reason, I realized that our tech was no longer climbing but was declining. I copied and stole all the secrets of the tech up to the point it started falling. I have kept that safe all these years in the hope that someday it would be useful again. I was also able to gather all of the energy tech and most of the sciences."

Ask him how old he is? Tell him he is not in trouble for what he stole. Russ sent to Laura.

"Gus I was just informed that you are not in trouble for what you did all those years ago. Please can you tell me how old you really are?"

"Laura do you remember the story of Carik? He was the one that was armorer to King Quinn, 145,000 years ago?

"Yes wasn't he the one that was thought to have stolen copies.... Oh my God. Are you saying that was you? That would make you."

"Yes Laura, I am Carik. I am over 150,000 years old now. Don't look to bad for me age huh." He laughed in a good natured way at himself.

Russ walked back into the armory. "What do you wish to be called? You are a very valuable man. I truly hope that I can live up to your expectations."

"Sire, I have watched and paid attention to your actions. You are an honorable man. I will support you any way that I can. If you ask, I will provide the crystals the data is stored on. Please sire if you use them be careful. Absolute power can corrupt easily. That is why I kept them hidden all these years. Some of our former kings were greedy and war mongrels. Our empire needs a good ruler with a wise and calm head. I can program them into your learning that you have been doing. I do not want them in any computer though. Too easy to get into and steal. Please I am Gus now. Qarik dies many many years ago." He said with a laugh.

"Gus it is then. Are you happy here in the armory? I can move you to any position that you wish. Is there any languages that are not in the computer? What about fighting skills. I want to have a peaceful empire, yet have to be able to protect it at the same time." He explained.

"A true king does not seek war, and then only when it is necessary. War is an evil and nasty thing. Even after it is won there is only death and suffering. No one wins from a war. Yes Sire I am happy here playing with my weapons. That was the start of my life, I was fascinated by the many things that came from them. Sciences, engineering, energy, so many things from things made for killing. The tech that we have now is far behind where we were. Maybe you can lead us into a time of peace and growth again my Lord. I truly hope so. I will talk to the admiral and get her to setup the program. If you want, I can set it up so that you know all of it in a single night. Remember what I know is years ahead of what they know."

"Gus I would be honored if you would do that for me. I want to ask a favor of you though. If you ever see me going the way of the old kings, Stop me please. That is not who I want to be."

"Sire, I would be honored to do that. There was an ancient empire it was ancient when I was a child. It was said to hold many secrets that we could not conceive of. Part of that empire is known to me. The location I mean. It was said to be one of peace and knowledge. The sad part about having peace is the wars you have to go through to get there. Maybe with that knowledge and mine most of that can be adverted. I am willing to help anyway I can to that end. A life on a peaceful planet, with a house some animals and gardens is my dream now." He said looking into nowhere.

"If you can help me, then you will have that my friend. I would prefer to never have to fight a single battle let alone a war. That is a wonderful dream maybe someday my ladies and I can have the same."

"Then I will get it setup for you tonight my Lord, now I must equip these ladies to explore the Anan-naki' site." Gus got up moving into the rear of the armory.

Stunned Russ shook his head as he walked back to the bridge. "Katy did you follow all that?" He asked as he walked onto the bridge.

Katy just stood there with a bewildered look on her face. "All these years he has been in hiding, protecting what he loved. I have known that man nearly my entire life. I would have never thought any of that about him. He has always been a flirt along with teasing in a harmless way. I have never heard a harsh word against him. Even Steven, that piece of garbage never spoke bad of Gus. That in itself says a lot about the man."

"Commander Grady, what are your thoughts?"

"About what Sire?" Grady was confused then he remembered that they had linked that morning. "Sire were you having a private conversation with the ladies perhaps?"

"I am sorry Grady you are right. Please forget my asking. It was just something that had surprised me."

"Ah Sire that happens to men a lot when it comes to the female mind. Might I suggest you get used to it." He laughed.

"Yes I think that I should."

Gus had Akira dressed out in a suit of armor that was tougher than anything else on board. No one knew it was that durable except him though. "Miss Akira, please take good care of this suit and it will take care of you. That is the way of any weapon or piece of equipment. It seems from earlier that you are familiar with blades, with the way that you handled that plasma blade. What we need to do now is to get you a firearm. I have just the one." Again he went to the rear and rummaged around for a bit. Bringing one back with him. "Lady Akira this is not a normal weapon. There are only two of these. They are unlike any other firearm known. Let's go to the range and I will explain how it works."

Laura was looking at the weapon in a strange way. Is there something wrong Laura?

I have seen a picture of something like that before and I am trying to remember where I saw it and what it was. She shook her head trying to remember.

"Laura I see that you have seen one of them before." Gus stated.

"Yes but I can't remember where I saw it, or what it is."

"Miss Akira the weapon that you have is called a 'Tracrans'"

"Oh my GOD.... I remember now. Where the hell did you get one of those." Laura exclaimed almost in sheer terror. "Akira, put that thing down very gently. It is extremely dangerous."

"Calm down Laura. The horror stories that you know are both true and false. They are true that they are the deadliest weapons ever made. The ones that you know about had a flaw in them causing them to explode killing everyone around them. That was because they were built wrong. These two will never do that. The plans they were build from was the wrong ones. Those were the early models before that flaw was corrected." Gus grinned as he tapped the side of his head.

"What is so special about this weapon, other than the blowing up part?" Akira asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Lady Akira, that weapon if set to the highest setting can bore a 6 inch hole through your moon."

Akira's look of shock would have been comical at any other time. "This weapon can do that." Amazed and stunned she asked Gus.

"Yes my lady. It can do that plus much more. The power core will never run out, and you will never need to reload anything into it."

"How many of these are there now Gus?" Laura was fearful of someone finding one.

"None, just these two I was able to track down the rest and dispose of them. They will never be made again. They were both my greatest design and also my biggest disgrace."

"You designed these Gus? How were they your biggest disgrace with the power they have." Akira wanted to know.

"Lady Akira, there were my greatest, because nothing like them had ever existed. The king ordered them to be made right away. I tried to tell him they were not ready, but he would not listen. Many thousands of soldiers were killed because they were not ready for the field. The explosive force of each one covered a... what you know as a 5 mile radius. At the last battle there were thousands of them on the planet. That planet is now a dust ball in space. Since the war was won at that last battle, it was all hidden from the public's eyes. I destroyed the plans in a fire and later corrected the problem without the king knowing. That maniac would have tried to take over everything he saw if he had of had that weapon. They cannot be taken apart to reverse engineer. That is one of the safeguards I built into them. There are no existing plans for them even on the data crystals." Gus had a remorseful expression, remembering days from long ago.

"Gus if you know how to build these weapons, what do you know about body armor?" Laura asked thinking about protecting Russ and Akira.

With a laugh Gus shook his head before saying. "That young lady, you will just have to wait to see. Yes I do have something in mind for the King and Queen, along with his consorts. I will have to make them first. I doubt you have ever heard of that armor. No I will not divulge where it came from or when. I will need to know how many to make though."

"Gus, there are three women besides the Queen plus the King at the moment." Laura answered. "Later there will be six more women and one male, they're not Grelyns they are Freoids."

"Freoids, I didn't think there were any left. I will make their suits at a later time then." Gus had an intrigued look.

"Laura, what are Grelyns and Freoids?" Akira asked bewildered.

"I am sorry. Our race is called Grelyns and the ones that are on Pluto are Freoids." She explained.

They had arrived at the shuttle bay instead of the range. "Gus I thought we were going to the range to test fire Akira's weapon."

"Laura even on the lowest setting it can cause a lot of damage. With her majesty's learning how to use it, I thought it best not to try it inside the ship. Miss Akira you will be perfectly safe firing the weapon, I swear to you. Let's go outside then I will explain how to use it." He said walking towards the shield.

The women followed him outside their body suits adjusting to environmental suits as they did. Once they were outside, Gus walked a little away from the ship. "Lady Akira, may I see your weapon please?"

Akira pulled it from the holster designed for it. Handing it to Gus with the barrel pointed down. Gus nodded to her. "I see that you know something about weapons." He remarked. "That is good. On the side is a switch to change the power settings. All the way down is the lowest power and increases each click up. There are four settings. Unlike a lot of weapons this one has no recoil. Do you see that rock on top of the hill over there?" He asked pointing to a hill about a quarter of a mile away.